What Does Obamacare Mean for Young Americans?

Obamacare is bad news for young Americans, according to a study by The Heritage Foundation. There are three basic points to take away:

1-In order to pay for the influx of older and sicker Americans, young and healthy Americans will see their premiums skyrocket.

2-In order to minimize the impact on younger workers, the law states that children of parents with employer-sponsored coverage must be able to remain on the parent’s policy up to the age of 26. At age 27 these children will pay even higher premiums if they want health insurance.

With insurance price controls set by regulation, premiums for young adults will increase. Then what? They will find it financially advantageous to drop coverage and pay the modest mandatory government fine instead. Multiple reports have estimated anywhere from 17 to 50 percent premium increases for young adults. Of course, as noted, these are the same individuals making the least amount of money in their career and struggling financially. CATO estimates that single young adults could save up to $3,000 a year by dropping coverage and for a young family, $8,000 for a family of four. If younger and healthier individuals leave the coverage pool, only the older, sicker, and more expensive patients will be left. Then what? Insurers will have no choice but to raise premiums to cover higher-benefit older adults, forcing even more individuals to drop coverage. This creates a “death spiral” of premium increases. President Obama energized a generation to vote for “Change.” Pricing them out of quality health insurance is not what they might have anticipated.

I guess it’s true what they say – you get the government you deserve. You were promised health care reform and you got it. Whether this is what you had in mind is immaterial, it’s not like you weren’t warned. It just kind of sucks for those of us who didn’t vote these statists into office, and our kids who are too young to vote.

“the modest mandatory government fine.” Maybe the saddest thing I’ve ever seen in print when referencing the United States government. The immorality of this invasion into my health and insurance is nauseating. Never mind the sheer mindless waste.